On being brave

What does it mean to be brave? My first thoughts about bravery are people who fight on the front lines, or climbers who climb up 300 metres of rock, or leaders who stand up and speak for their company and country. But after thinking a little more, there is more to bravery than you might think.

A person is brave when they put themselves in an uncomfortable situation where there is potential for them to fail. We see it all the time with writers, actors, and politicians.

But we also show bravery every day. We do it when we stand up for someone close to us, when we stand up to someone close, when we post not-so-perfect pictures online, when we switch jobs, when we switch countries.

We continuously look outside of ourselves for examples of bravery, expecting that only the most courageous acts count. But they don’t. Bravery is within us and we live it through the little decisions we make and the acts we take.

We have to make important decisions for our family that could fail, we have to get rid of spiders because our partner is scared (nevermind that we are crapping ourselves too), we have to make investment decisions for our future. As you can see, these acts of bravery are not ‘dressed up fancy and called Nancy’, they are ugly and seemingly inconsequential, but they’re vital in our lives.

It’s time to stop putting yourself down and accept that you are brave too – in your own way.